zaterdag 3 augustus 2013

Tax Receipts Vs. Savings Rate

Whenever the government raises taxes or when corporate profits rise, tax revenue will rise with it (blue chart).

But this has implications, if tax revenues rise, this will deplete the personal savings of the people. The red chart shows the personal savings rate (%). There is a negative correlation to be found here.

It shows us that higher tax revenues always lead to lower personal savings rates and vice versa. From this correlation we can deduct one thing. There is a limit to raising tax revenues. If the personal savings rate gets to 0%, there is no more margin to increase taxes.

At this moment the personal savings rate is 4.4% and is almost at a historic low. Contrast this to the savings rate of China, which is 50%. Also note that tax revenues have been declining as a percentage of GDP. This means that corporate earnings growth isn't keeping up with GDP growth at a constant rate of taxation.